Book Review Assignment

For this assignment, you will need to write a book review on a biography, commentary, or that has been written for a general reader.

Two excellent guides on writing a book review can be found at Indiana University (http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/bookreview.html) and the University of Alberta (http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/bookreview/index.cfm). Consult these websites for more detailed instructions on writing a book review.

Length At least 1000 words Audience Your review should be written for an audience who would read American Scientist or , i.e. scientists from all disciplines and nonscientists with a strong interest in science. Substance These are the general guidelines given by American Scientist on writing a book review;1 “The book should be evaluated as a whole so that our readers, scientists and nonscientists alike, can gain a sense of the book’s purpose and its place in the world of ideas. Please give readers enough general background to understand what may be unfamiliar territory. If you quote from the book, please indicate for the editor the page number of the quotation.”

Assignment Due Dates March 1 Text choice due March 19 Book Report is due

Suggested Titles for Book Review Assignment ?? Other titles are acceptable but the book must be non-fiction. ?? You must choose a book that you have not already read. ?? All choices must be pre-approved. No more than one person may review any given book.

Agosta Thieves, Deceivers and Killers: Tales of in Benfey, Morris Woodward Bhushan, Rosenfeld Of Minds and : New Philosophical Perspectives on Chemistry Carson Silent Spring Collman Naturally Dangerous: Surprising Facts about Food, Health, and the Environment Curie Madame Curie: A biography Davidson : A Life Dawkins The Selfish Gene Emsley The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus Faigman Legal Alchemy: The Use and Misuse of Science in the Law Ferry : A life Friedman Politics of Excellence: Behind the in Science Garfield Mauve: How one Man Invented a Color that Changed the World Gould The Mismeasure of Man Greenberg Science, Money and Politics: Political Triumph and Ethical Erosion Hawking A Brief History of Time Hofman, Ghioroso, Seaborg The Transuranium People: The Inside Story Howes, Herzenberg Their Day in the Sun: Women of the Hunter Vital Forces: The Discover of the Molecular Basis of Life Keller, Freeman A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock Israel Edison: A Life of Invention Kornberg For the Love of

1 http://americanscientist.org/bookshelf/guidelines.html Kornberg The Ascent of Science Kuhn The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Levere Transforming Matter: A from Alchemy to the Buckyball McGrayne Prometheans in the Lab: Chemistry and the Making of the Modern World McGrayne Nobel Prize : Their Lives, Struggles and Momentous Discoveries Mead, Hager : Scientist and Peacemaker Nye Before Big Science: The Pursuit of Modern Chemistry and Physics, 1800-1940 Olah A Life of Magic Chemistry: Autobiographical Reflections of a Nobel Prize Winner Park Vodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud Piel The Age of Science: What Scientists Learned in the Twentieth Century Popper The Logic of Scientific Discovery Poundstone Carl Sagan: A Life in the Cosmos Quinn : A Life Rhodes The Making of the Atomic Bomb Robbins-Roth From Alchemy to IPO Sachs Uncle Tungsten Sagan The Pale Blue Dot Sagan The Demon-Haunted World Schweber In the Shadow of the Bomb: Oppenheimer, Bethe, and the Moral Responsibility of the Scientist Seaborg, Seaborg Adventures in the Atomic Age: From Watts to Washington Shermer The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense Meets Nonsense Sime : A Life in Physics Smil Enriching the Earth: , , and the Transformation of World Food Production Strathern Mendeleyev’s Dream: The Quest for the Elements Tanford, Reynolds Nature’s Robots: A History of The Lives of a Cell Wasserman The Door in the Dream: Conversations with Eminent Women in Science Watson The Double Whitehead Science and the Modern World